The United Nations Global Geodetic Centre of Excellence (UN-GGCE) in Bonn was opened on 29 March 2023 at the UN Campus in Bonn, Germany. It aims to assist UN member states and geodetic organizations to coordinate and collaborate to sustain, enhance, access and utilise an accurate, accessible and sustainable global geodetic reference frame to support science, society and global development. A global reference frame is needed to relate the relative-only geodetic measurements to an absolute basis. A highly accurate and stable reference frame is urgently needed since the respective requirements are not yet fulfilled for the most accurate and reliable measurement of our system Earth, especially in times of climate change. The UN-GGCE vision is to provide countries strong political support for geodesy which enables them to accelerate the achievements of the Sustainable Development Goals and to derive social, environmental and economic benefits.
Since July 2024, the IGG is recognized as a partner of the UN-GGCE. The UN-GGCE Partnership Program launched in June 2024 aims to recognize the exceptional commitment and significant contributions by member states, universities, and organizations have made to the science of geodesy and strengthening the global geodesy supply chain. This partnership acknowledges IGG’s history of contributions and commitments to the shared goals of global geodesy.